Devices which will sense positions of a doll or toy are known and exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 3,481,070 which uses multiple position sensors. In this patent, there is disclosed a doll having a conductive ball in its abdomen which may make various switch contacts to indicate the position of the doll.
Also devices which sense motion are by virtue of a conductive ball making and breaking contacts are well known as exemplified by U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,520,200, 4,318,245, 3,752,945 and German Auslegeschrift No. 2,709,397.
While the prior art shows position sensing devices and also motion sensing devices, there is no disclosure of a simplified device for sensing positional attitude of an object such as a doll and the motion to which the doll may be subjected.
Today's toys are becoming quite sophisticated and there is a desire for toys and dolls to interact with the owner. In dolls with synthesized speech, there may be a speech routine which requires the logic system of the doll to know the position of the doll, and also in some circumstances, to know if the doll is being moved. For example, it may be desired to have a routine where the doll makes a request that the owner bounce the doll on the owner's knee. When the owner makes such bounce, there must be a device to sense the motion of the doll that may respond to the owner. Additionally, in another speech routine, the doll may ask to be put to sleep, in which case, the owner would lay the doll on its back. Accordingly, there is a requirement that the position of the doll be sensed so that it may respond with a suitable phrase, such as, "Thank you" or "Good Night". There may be additional routines in which the doll requests the owner to place it on its stomach or on its side or upright, in which case, the doll would make an intelligible response when the owner moved the doll to the requested position.
Accordingly, there is a need for an inexpensive, reliable device which will sense the coordinate position of a doll and will also indicate if the doll is being moved.
The present invention provides a new and improved contact make and break device which will sense motion and which also defines four independent seats for a conductive ball to indicate four coordinately different positions.